Automatic stretch quilting machine



Feb. 3, 1970 G. LANDONI 3,492,957

AUTOMATIC STRETCH QUILTING MACHINE.

Filed July 21, 1966 2 Shets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Feb. 3, 1970 5. LANDONI 3,492,957

AUTOMATIC STRETCH QUILTING MACHINE Filed July 21, 1966 .2 Sheets-Sheet 2Fig.2

1N VENTOR.

United States Patent 3,492,957 AUTOMATIC STRETCH QUILTING MACHINEGiannino Landoni, Cassano Magnago, Varese, Italy, as-

signor to Meca Meccanotecnica Cassanese S.N.C., Cassano Magnago, Varese,Italy, a firm of Italy Filed July 21, 1966, Ser. No. 566,826 Int. Cl.D05b 11/00 US. Cl. 112118 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Thisinvention deals with an automatic quilting machine having a plurality ofneedles for making a bonded quilted fabric comprised of a face fabric, acentral padding and an underlying elastic fabric stretchable in warpdirection. A transversely movable carriage supports the rolls drivingthe three materials in the warp or longitudinal direction. A programmingdevice, actuating an electromagnetic coupling or an electromagneticbrake, allows either the transverse or the longitudinal movement or bothof them, simultaneously, conveniently combined, in order to obtain anydesired quilting design on the bonded fabric, the machine also beingprovided with a further device for keeping the underlying elastic fabricunder adjustable tension in the warp direction.

My present invention relates to an automatic quilting machine, in whichI provide a quilting programming device, which through an electriccontrol synchronizes a system of electromagnetic brakes and couplingsfor composing any desired quilting pattern or design, according to thefancy and taste of the operator, designer or customer as the case maybe, as well as a fabric quilting tension adjusting device, as will bemore fully disclosed hereinafter.

The automatic quilting machine according to my present invention allowsproduction of a bonded and quilted fabric which is comprised of aconventional non-expansion fabric bonded to a warp stretch fabric, thatis a fabric being stretchable in the chain or warp direction, said warpstretch fabric being kept under tension in such a direction and quiltedaccording to the programmed patterns, so that when tension is released Iobtain a bonded and quilted fabric with any desired quilting design andwith high stretch properties, making it particularly suitable for theproduction of sports wear, all other quilted apparel, bedding, andtextile home furnishings in general.

Between the non-expansion plain fabric, which is the face cloth, and thewarp stretch fabric, used as an underlying backing, a padding layer isinserted and quilted together with said fabrics. This padding layer mayconsist of wadding, foamed plastics and/or other suitable materials, soas to give to the fabric, besides a high insulating degree, also aparticularly soft hand.

These and other objects of my invention, as well as its features andadvantages, will be readily understood from the following detaileddescription of a preferred embodiment of the automatic stretch quiltingmachine of the invention, reference being made to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the quilting machine, and

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view, 'with parts omitted, of the mainelements of the novel devices for the quilting machine according to myinvention.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, it will be understood thatthe entire quilting machine will not be described in detail, since itsconstruction and operation are well known. I will illustrate anddescribe only ice those parts forming the novel devices of the inventionor being related and/or co-operating therewith.

From the main drive shaft A, driven by a suitable motor N through asuitable drive belt 0, two motions are derived, namely a transversemotion of carriage B for transverse stitching and a longitudinal motionof rolls C and C for longitudinal stitching. These two motions,respectively obtained from carriage B and rolls C and C move the fabricsin relation to a plurality of needles Z, which are of the conventionaltypes usually provided on quilting machines, so as to obtain differentpaths of stitches, forming the desired design.

The transverse stitching motion is obtained through a transmissioncomprised of a Worm D and a worm wheel D having a shaft T on which aninterchangeable cam E and a programming disc F are mounted.

Cam E, through two rollers or cam followers G and G and a plate,controls transverse movement W of the fabric holding carriage B.

Programming disc F has a peripheral row of holes L in which suitablepins I may be threaded; said pins 1 protrude upwards from disc F andwhen rotating actuate a microswitch M, which through suitable not showncircuitry effects switching of electromagnetic coupling X andelectromagnetic brake Y.

The composition of the various quilting patterns is therefore based ontwo directions at right angles to one another, that is to say rotationand the lengthwise pull W of rolls C and C and transverse movement W ofcarriage B.

If the two motions W and W are caused to occur at the same time, Iobtain diagonal stitches. With suitable variations in the arrangement ofpins I and by replacing cam E with other cams having a suitable contour,I obtain a great number of quilting patterns. Moreover, the transversestitching and the vertical, lengthwise, stitching may be obtainedindependently from one another.

As already stated, electromagnetic coupling X has the object of engagingor disengaging the rolls C and C causing the advancement or pull W onthe fabric or, alternatively, the stopping of the rotation of such rollsand the longitudinal movement of the fabric. When electromagneticcoupling X is disengaged, my quilting machine will carry out onlytransverse stitching obtained through movement W of carriage B by meansof the cam E. In this case electromagnetic brake Y is energized forstopping motion of roll R of the upper fabric so as to obtain only ahorizontal stitching.

On the contrary, when electromagnetic coupling X is energized and cam Ehas a portion of its contour concentric with shaft T, said cam B willnot actuate, for the period of time corresponding to the rotation ofsuch a concentric portion of its contour, transverse movement W ofcarriage B, thus obtaining only a longitudinal stitching due to thelengthwise pull W caused by winding of the rolls C and C In this lattercase carriage B is stationary because of the concentric portion of thecam E contour while fabric is being advanced through transmission Staken from main shaft A.

This possibility of carrying out transverse stitching and vertical,longitudinal, stitching independently from one another is one of themain features of my present invention and the sequence may be varied atwill according to the sequence of actuations of microswitch M.

However, another main feature of my invention is just the contrarypossibility, i.e. that of causing both transverse movement W of carriageB due to the cam E, and pull W due to the rotation of rolls C and C(viz. fabric advancement), to operate at the same time for any desiredperiod of time, so as to obtain a diagonal stitching. This diagonalstitching can be more or less sloping,

straight, or curved with variable radius, or any combination thereof,simply by varying the contour of cam E and by advancing the speed of thefabric.

The automatic quilting machine according to my invention is thereforeadapted to carry out any kind of quilting work by means of theseimprovements and may be regarded as a universal machine.

Automatic switching sequence between electromagnetic coupling X andelectromagnetic brake Y through microswitch M is obtained by electricalequipment Q which is also used as a control board. In this equipment Iprovide all the elements for sequence generation, switching, conversionof electric power from alternate current into direct current for feedingsaid coupling X and brake Y; however, since all these elements are wellknown in the art and may be of any conventionional type, no specificdisclosure is deemed to be necessary.

As already stated, the warp stretch fabric has to be maintained undersuch a tension during quilting operation and for this purpose I providethe tension adjusting device which will now be described.

Said tension adjusting device is comprised of two supports 1 and 2bearing roll R for the warp stretch fabric, which is being deliveredunder needles Z in a lower position in respect to plain fabric startingfrom roll R and padding which is unwound from the middle roll R Thisdevice further comprises two rolls 3 and 4 causing the warp stretchfabric to be stretched for its whole width so as to keep it undertension. Said tension is obtained through an electromagnetic brake 5,acting on the shaft of the roll 3, said brake 5 being energized attension percentages, which may be adjusted through a rheostat P, locatedin the control board Q, suitably scaled and calibrated in percentages oftension or stretch.

Said tension adjusting device allows, through rheostat P andelectromagnetic brake 5, a variable control of tension of the warpstretch fabric, and this makes it possible to obtain a bonded quiltedfabric with any desired degree of stretch.

It is to be understood that many modifications, variations, andadditions may be applied to the various constructive parts of thequilting machine according to my present invention, without departingfrom the spirit thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An automatic quilting machine for making a bonded quilted fabricconsisting of a face layer, a central padding layer and an underlyingwarp stretch layer, comprising:

a plurality of stitching needles for bonding said layers;

three rolls each supporting one of said three layers to be bonded, andmeans to longitudinally move said layers with respect to said pluralityof needles;

a carriage supporting said three rolls and being transversely movablewith respect to said plurality of needles, and means to transverselymove said car- 4 riage with respect to said needles and saidlongitudinal movement; means to control said independent transversemotion of said carriage and said indepedent longitudinal motion of saidlayers; and 'means upstream from said needles for keeping said warpstretch layer under tension in the warp direction.

2. An automatic quilting machine in accordance with claim 1, whereinsaid means to move said layers comprises a motor and a main drivingshaft driven by said motor; and wherein said means to control saidindependent transverse and longitudinal motions comprises a second shaftdriven by said main shaft and an interchangeable cam carried by saidsecond shaft, said cam being adapted to transversely move said carriage.

3. The automatic quilting machine according to claim 2 wherein saidmeans to control transverse and longitudinal motions further comprisesan electromagnetic coupling which engages or disengages said means forlongitudinally feeding said three layers.

4. The automatic quilting machine according to claim 2, wherein saidroll supporting the face layer is provided with an electromagneticbrake.

5. The automatic quilting machine according to claim 1, wherein theprogramming device comprises an interchangeable programming disc havingon its periphery a plurality of protruding pins actuating a microswitchfor operating said electromagnetic coupling and said electromagneticbrake.

6. The automaticquilting. machine according to claim 1, wherein themeans for keeping under tension said warp stretch layer'is adjustableand is comprised of two tension rollers, one said roller being providedwith an electromagnetic brake which is provided with variable tension bymeans of a rheostat.

independent of References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,218,785 10/1940Boettcher ll2ll7 2,687,703 8/1954 Shotsky ll2ll7 X 2,855,879 10/1958Manning et al. 11279 3,385,246 5/1968 Schlegel 1l2ll8 3,393,654 7/1968Barnes ll279 1,948,876 2/1934 Boettcher ll2ll7 1,993,413 3/1935 Mellon192l44 3,079,880 3/1963 Bihaly ll2l02 X 3,227,115 1/1966 Bono 112-23,348,507 10/1967 Kuhn 1l2-ll8 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,465,330 11/1966 France.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner GEORGE V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner

